Bethesda Softworks has announced the opening of Austin-based BattleCry Studios, which will be led by Rich Vogel, whose work spans many popular MMORPGs, including Meridian 59, Ultima Online, and most recently, Star Wars: The Old Republic.

"I have always admired and respected Bethesda's approach to making great, original games. It's a belief and passion I share, and I'm looking forward to building a team of high quality developers who want to bring that same commitment and creative energy to the games we'll be creating," Vogel said.

The studio is working on a currently-unannounced title and joins Arx Fatalis and Dishonored developer Arkane as the second Bethesda developer in Austin. The studio is also hiring developers, and positions can be found at the Bethesda jobs page.

"We are very pleased to have someone with Rich's vast experience join us at Bethesda. Rich has a history of building and managing talented development teams and bringing high quality games to market, and we look forward to working with him on a new exciting project," stated Vlatko Andonov, President of Bethesda Softworks.

Based on Vogel's track record, we're guessing that the new title is more than likely an online game, but no details are available at this time.